TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin How late an you visit SXM and still have fun

My wife and I missed our annual trip this year due to Irma. We are considering one late in the summer or early fall. We don't want it to be deserted with lots of restaurant closed.

Does anyone know about when things start getting slow with scarce visitors?

Any input appreciated.

I don't know that you can really know what the situation will be this year because of so many places, especially on the French side, that have not yet reopened after Irma. As of now, there are about 5 restaurants open in all of Grand Case. Historically, September was VERY quiet on the French side but the Dutch side, pretty much everything stayed open. I suspect pretty much everything will remain open this year on the Dutch side, but tourists are way down in general. Honestly, the island needs tourists now and IF you manage your expectations, pretty much everyone who has gone this year has had a wonderful trip. Your mileage may vary.

If things were normal (meaning that hurricane Irma never hit the island) typically the months of August and September saw many places on the French side around Orient Bay and Cul-de-Sac close down for several weeks and reopen in mid-October. But, as Carol points out above it is usually business as usual on the Dutch side. In addition, after last year's hurricane season maybe August and September aren't the best months to consider. Add to this the destruction from Irma last year (nine months ago tomorrow) and many of the places that were once there are either gone or undergoing significant repairs. My advice would be to still plan your 2018 trip, but if possible target late November or early December for your visit. The Atlantic Hurricane season will be over by then, and if everything goes well there should be more businesses, restaurants, etc. back up-and-running. That's my hope (and plan) at this time.

We used to go to SXM all the time in September or October and absolutely loved it. Now, I would definitely buy trip insurance, but I would definitely still go that time of year. I'm actually hoping to go in early October next year..

We are going back in late October and first part of November....airfares willing!

WE JUST BOOKED 6/13 TO 6/23 i will let you know when we get there

We are here now and it’s great, on the DUTCH side! Two ships in town today. But when it gets late, say around 9pm, bars and restaurants are still open, but you have the roads almost all to yourself. A little different atmosphere than a year ago, but it reminds us of the old days.

Hey SXMFox, how's the seaweed today? Hope it's going away..

Just got back this weekend. Plenty of places open. Simpson Bay was hopping after 9 well into the evening hours every day.

Well I’ll show you! Let me take a few photos.

Not bad all things considering how it was a day ago! Looks like a lot of improvement. They are going to leave the rest and let Mother Nature take it’s coarse. It’s doable. To the right they had a backhoe today cleaning up there stretch of the beach. Didn’t mean to hijack this tread Carol, you may want to put this some place else. Sorry.

Scubaman we didn’t see that, maybe it was an off time of the week. Go figure, I’m sure it’s changes daily. But no worries, we had a great time with the locals we hung out with!

Thanks. It's my fault for highjacking the thread, not yours.

Actually July and August are popular vacation trips for school teachers and summer holidays. IMHO September 3 to 10 would be a nervous time on the island this year.

Well that's when we are slated to be there (Sept 8-15) but I'm betting that bad weather won't affect us two years in a row. Keeping my fingers crossed.